Baggies set for crunch clash at Hillsborough

Brummie Road Ender

·26 April 2024

Baggies set for crunch clash at Hillsborough

Sheffield Wednesday v West Bromwich Albion; Hillsborough, Saturday 27th April 2024, 3pm

Albion travel to South Yorkshire on Saturday for a huge match with implications at both ends of the table. The visitors can all but secure a play-off place with victory and also provide a huge boost for neighbours, Birmingham City, who are fighting with Wednesday to avoid the drop to League One. A win for the hosts would keep Championship survival in their own hands going into the final day of the season.

Carlos Corberán’s team are coming off back-to-back defeats for the first time since December, but the performance at Leicester City last Saturday was hugely encouraging in all but one aspect, their ability to take chances. Albion had a better xG than their hosts last weekend, even with Jamie Vardy missing a penalty, but still came away with nothing thanks partly to profligacy in front of goal but also as a result of some incredible last ditch defending from the Foxes, and Hamza Choudhury in particular. The strength of the performance was highlighted by the way in which Enzo Maresca’s team destroyed Southampton a few days later.

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Of course, if you could guarantee performance levels, football wouldn’t be the exciting unpredictable game we all love. If Albion perform to the same levels at Hillsborough as they did at the King Power Stadium, you would expect them to take all three points and secure their place in the top six. Even if Hull City beat promotion-chasing Ipswich Town on Saturday, the Baggies’ 14-goal advantage in goal difference would mean the Tigers would need a miracle to overhaul Albion.

However, Sheffield Wednesday are flighting for their lives and fighting fiercely. As Corberán pointed out in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday, Saturday’s opponents have only picked up one point fewer that the Baggies over the past ten games and are unbeaten in four. Leeds United are the only opposing team to win at Hillsborough since January although the Owls haven’t won any of their last four at home since a 1-0 win over Plymouth Argyle at the beginning of last month.

A 3-1 win at Ewood Park last Sunday lifted Wednesday out of the bottom three and dragged Blackburn Rovers into the relegation scrap as they sit just two points above Danny Röhl’s team. That result will have boosted confidence, as will the 2-2 draw they earned against in-form Norwich City a couple of weeks ago, and Corberán is under no illusions as to how difficult this match will be.

The squad is in good shape, though, and will be confident of putting in a good performance. Tom Fellows has apparently been suffering some discomfort with a groin issue, something Corberán insisted is not an “injury”, but should be able to feature in the matchday squad, while Josh Maja is getting closer to being fully match fit. BTA will be available again after his suspension was served last weekend so Corberán should have as full a squad as he has had all season available to him for the first of the final two games of the regular season.

The Spaniard’s switch to a back three surprised his opposite number on Saturday and certainly gave Albion the edge in the early stages, but they were unable to capitalise on their advantage. I would expect a return to a back four at Hillsborough but nothing would surprise me. Corberán’s attention to detail in his preparation for each match sometimes brings unforeseen changes in selection and setup, so who knows what gems he will have thought up in his plan to defeat Sheffield Wednesday.

Ultimately, of course, it will come down to the players. Corberán’s plan worked at Leicester but his players’ inability to take the chances that came their way meant that they came away with nothing. When those chances come at Hillsborough, as I feel sure they well, they need to be taken to secure the three points that would effectively secure the Baggies’ top six spot.

History

Albion are defending a seventeen year unbeaten record against Sheffield Wednesday having not been beaten by the Owls since Deon Burton scored the only goal in a match at the Hawthorns which saw both Darren Carter and Neil Clement dismissed in stoppage time in April 2007. At Hillsborough, Wednesday last beat the Baggies in November 2006 with goals from Glen Whelan Majid Bougherra and Steven MacLean securing a 3-1 victory – Jason Koumas scored for the visitors.

Albion have won three of the four encounters in Yorkshire since then, the most recent being a 3-0 win in July 2020 when a double from Matheus Pereira and a penalty from Charlie Austin put the Baggies back on course to claim automatic promotion. In November 2009, a brace from Simon Cox and further goals from Jerome Thomas and Chris Brunt saw Albion win 4-0 at Hillsborough, their biggest ever win away to the Owls.

Albion have scored five goals at Hillsborough on three occasions, with two of those coming in the 1930s – in March 1932, the scoresheet was a roll call of some of the Baggies’ best goalscorers of the inter-war years as Stand Wood, Tommy Glidden, Ginger RIchardson, Teddy Sandford and Joe Carter all found the net in a 5-2 win. Four of them were in the side a few years later in November 1935 when Albion gained some form of revenge for defeat in the FA Cup final a few months earlier – Wood (2), Teddy Sandford and Ginger Richardson were on the scoresheet again with Jack Mahon also finding the net in another 5-2 victory.

The third occasion when Albion scored five was on Boxing Day 1952 – Johnny Nicholls, Ray Barlow and Ronnie Allen all scored and were assisted by two own goals to secure the points, although the hosts came close to a point as the game finished 4-5 in front of just under 60,000 spectators.

Wednesday biggest win over Albion came way back in January 1893 in the first ever league meeting between the sides. The Sheffield club were just called “The Wednesday” in those days and played their home games at Olive Grove. With Albion having won the first two meetings between the sides in the FA Cup in 1891 and 1892, the were finally admitted to the Football League in 1892 and beat Albion 6-0 in that first league encounter. Their biggest win at Hillsborough, where they moved in 1899, was 5-0 in April 1955.